Grumpator

And the winner...

2012-01-23T10:00:00.001-07:00

Olivia was spot on with both birthdate and gender!

Our son Elmer was born January 21 at 1:29 PM. Everything went great and we are all ecstatic to be home together as a family.

The cats are a little nonplussed, but are taking great interest in (and a wide berth around) this little guy.

Don't worry, there will be pics & probably gory details later, once we start figuring out the sleep thing a bit better.

Predictions!

2012-01-17T10:11:00.003-07:00

Here's a summary of the predictions so far.
Dates:

Gender:

Let the predictions begin!

2012-01-14T09:35:00.002-07:00

Since I'm spending a lot of my energy pondering this very thing, and would like to be amused, let's turn this into a game.

When do YOU think Goober will be born? Put your prediction in the comments. Whoever's closest wins. Bonus points for correctly guessing the gender.

So everyone has access to the same information:

The actual due date is January 25.
On average, first babies are late. However, in both my family & Chris', the babies have come early (anywhere from 4 weeks to 4 days).
They don't usually let you go beyond 2 weeks late without inducing, so anytime after February 8 is highly unlikely.
Goober is head down and in the right position and feels like s/he's sinking lower all the time. However, none of this necessarily means anything is imminent.
I have no information regarding dilation, effacement, etc. My OB isn't the most informative man on the planet.

Let's see who has the mad prognostication skillz!

Anticipation

2012-01-09T20:36:00.001-07:00

Two weeks out from my due date, the main question everyone asks is "when"? I sympathize with them, because, clearly, that's the main question on MY mind, but I can't help but find it odd that they seem to think I might know the answer.

I've always been such a know-it-all that it's hard for me to respond. I really have no idea, just wishful thinking.

They also ask when I'll stop coming to work, which is something I probably could control if I wanted, but I'd decided not to set an arbitrary date to begin my parental leave. I'd rather save up my 12 weeks for after the baby comes, not before. So I'd planned to just keep going to work as long as I can. I thought brooding at home, staring intently at my basketball-shaped abdomen, awaiting the onset of labor would not be the best way to stay patient and relaxed.

I guess one of the things I find most interesting about pregnancy is how communal it is. I can't really get anywhere quickly, not only because I currently walk with the speed of a three-toed sloth, but also because nearly everyone I meet has something to say. I'm given advice, asked how I'm doing, asked when the baby is going to be born, asked if I'm ready, complimented on my appearance (they're so sweet), given assessments on whether or not the baby has dropped, and delivered expert opinions on whether I'm having a boy or girl, based on a variety of arcane divination techniques. For the most part, I don't mind - it's rather nice to surf on a wave of general good will and benevolence. Although there are those who have the strangest idea of what is appropriate to share with a) someone you barely know and b) someone who is about to have a baby. I do my best to escape them, with all the speed I can muster, when someone begins to relate a horrific tale of birth.

I'd witnessed this phenomenon with various friends, when they were pregnant, and I'd thought it would be something I'd hate. I tend to be pretty private, and I didn't think I'd like having near-strangers pry into my affairs. But pregnancy has made me a bit more patient, perhaps - or maybe I'm just getting older - and I usually just accept their interest with a smile, bite my tongue when they say something with which I don't agree, and say thank you for their good wishes. It's not much longer now, after all.

Then I can look forward to parenting advice. I'm not sure I'll be quite so patient then.

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

Kerry just shared a blog post about making 2012 The Year of Maximum Enthusiasm, which I think is a lovely idea. However, as much as I like the thought of seeking more high five opportunities (which reminds me delightfully of The Todd from Scrubs) or even displaying maximum enthusiasm for how lucky I am in my life, it's the final paragraph that has inspired me to make this resolution:

Remember yesterday, when you saw that one thing that reminded you of that one friend of yours, and you thought about how if you sent that friend a photo of the thing that reminded you of them, they would smile? But then you didn’t send your friend that photo, and it wasn’t awesome. Don’t do that again. Here’s what you do:

Take the photo.

Send it to your friend.

Your friend smiles. The world is a better place. Thanks.

For the last 2 years, I've resolved to maintain better contact with my friends, to cultivate the relationships that are important to me. It's easy to say, but harder to do, because it really requires a plan. This is exactly what I need - a specific action. When I see something that reminds me of a friend, I will send it to them or contact them, by whatever means necessary. I think this is a resolution I can keep.

So this is my New Year's Resolution for 2012 - along with learning to make Hollandaise sauce! Isn't that awesome? High five!

Looking back on 2011

2011-12-30T10:35:00.002-07:00

Today's my last day of work in 2011, so I'm continuing my tradition of taking a look at the previous year and taking stock of my successes and failures.

Looking back at 2011

This year flew by at an amazing pace. Our contracts specialist left at the end of January, and I was "temporarily" assigned her responsibilities as 40% of my position. This technically expires next month, but I am as yet unaware of plans to replace the position. However, this affected some of the goals I'd set for myself this past year, and I'm a little sad that I wasn't able to implement them.

I did accomplish quite a few things this year. I had an article published in College and Research Libraries News in May, chugged along on several committees, turned in my packet for promotion and continuing appointment, presented a workshop on Inbox Zero at the first ever all-libraries staff retreat, attended the Berlin 9 Open Access Conference, and managed to successfully plan another Arizona Library Association Annual Conference, completing my term as Conference Planning Co-Chair. My last big task for the year was to compose the ASU Libraries' response to the Office of Science and Technology Policies' Request for Information for Public Access to Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Publications Resulting from Federally Funded Research.

Getting pregnant also threw me a bit this year - I lost momentum on the quilt, despite getting a new sewing machine. And a lot more of my focus has been on preparing for this next big stage in our lives. But I think I did do pretty well at better maintaining my relationships with family and friends. I actually quit Facebook back in June, have focused more on the people I care most about, and have had a lot of good times this year. I also quit World of Warcraft, but my social gaming has been mostly filled by a science fiction book club via Skype, and using Map Tool to play D&D, which has been a lot of fun. And while I never made an official resolution, I did learn how to make awesome hashbrowns this year!

Looking forward at 2012

This next year brings changes that are so far out of my usual scope of activity that I find it challenging to predict much of anything. Our baby is due at the end of January - when Goober arrives, I'll be taking 12 weeks of maternity leave from work. Professionally, I'm not planning on anything for the spring semester, and my job is somewhat in flux when I return, due to the previously mentioned contracts responsibilities as well as other, vague possibilities. Additionally, I won't receive notification about my promotion and continuing appointment until May. Because of all this uncertainty, I'm not making any professional goals until I return from leave, when I'll have a better idea of my position and priorities.

Personally, I'm looking forward to becoming a mother and adapting to having a child. I'm excited to see how our lives change, to meet this new little addition to our family. I'm curious to see how the cats react!

New Year's Resolutions?

My main focus will be on learning to be a mother and balancing that into my life. However, I do have one resolution as a request from Chris: to learn how to make Hollandaise sauce.

I'd also like to return to more regular blogging and photography, but we'll see how that plays out. I took far fewer pictures this last year, but I expect that the addition of a new subject will help inspire my camera.

Best wishes to all for a joyous 2012!

Starting to wrap things up

2011-12-22T11:14:00.001-07:00

The fact that Goober is due next month is just another sign of how perfectly timed this pregnancy turned out to be. It suits me so well, knowing that I can wrap things up for 2011, and will be starting the New Year with a whole new addition to the family!

Yesterday, I finished up my last big responsibility at work by turning in the libraries' response to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's RFI for public access to scholarly articles that result from federally funded research. I do still have some other tasks that would be nice to complete before the baby comes, but nothing that can't wait if it needs to. With my stint as AzLA Conference Planning Co-Chair complete, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted. I can finish tidying some things up at work and reprise my Inbox Zero workshop, but otherwise start shifting my focus towards preparing for Goober's arrival!

November Updates

2011-11-14T16:36:00.001-07:00

This fall is flying by - I blinked and missed September, October was over before I knew it, and we're already midway through November! There are lots of things going on, so here's an update:

Work:
I just returned from the Berlin 9 Open Access Conference, held at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Washington D.C. This was truly one of the best-run conferences I've ever attended, and the HHMI facility was beautiful - not only was the campus gorgeous in full fall foliage, the auditorium was made for conferences: cushy armchairs, laptop tables, and lots of power outlets. I was terribly envious. I took tons of notes from all of the sessions, so a full conference recap will follow by the end of the week, hopefully. Once I kick this cold that I caught on my travels.

This was my first trip to Washington D.C., so I managed to take a little time on my last night in town to do a some sightseeing. I went on the "Monuments by Moonlight" tour, which was perfect for a tired, single pregnant lady wanting to explore DC safely and easily. I took many iPhone pictures, the full set is here.

The Arizona Library Association Annual Conference, for which I'm the conference planning co-chair, begins two weeks from today, so the majority of my attention will be focused on that for the rest of the month. Once that's through, however, I can take some deep breaths, pull myself together, and start taking care of all the things I have to do before I go on leave.

Goober:
I'm at 30 weeks tomorrow, which is about midway through month 7. Coincidentally, month 8 begins around Thanksgiving, and month 9 at Christmas - easy to remember! According to my app, Goober is just under 3 pounds and about the size of a head of cabbage. This kid is very active, kicking and squirming away. S/he wasn't thrilled about flying, but seemed to find riding the Metro interesting. So far I'm doing fine, though definitely noticing a need to start slowing down some.

We're starting to plan for Goober's room, which will take over the computer room. The only computer in that room is mine, so I'm selling that and my HP mini and have purchased a brand new Samsung Series 7 Chronos laptop, which will be my home computer. It should arrive on Thursday - I can't wait! Anyway, we'll clear out the computer desks and finally paint that room, getting rid of that ridiculous sports border that the previous owners left. After that, we'll start moving in Goober's furniture: my old crib (repaired) and a dresser that belonged to Chris' grandmother that will double as a changing table. It'll be fun to get the room ready for our little one.

All this, combined with the Thanksgiving holiday, means a busy few weeks. Where did November go?

Perry Reunion 2011

2011-10-22T13:18:00.001-07:00

Perry Reunion 2011, a set on Flickr.

Last week, we went to California with Peter, Dana and the girls. We spent 2 days at Disneyland (a luxury compared to our whirlwind band trips!) and rode on a ton of rides. Then we attended the Perry Family reunion, which was capped off by a dinner cruise in the Los Angeles bay. It was a lovely trip!

Pregnancy FAQs

2011-10-18T18:35:00.003-07:00

I get asked these questions a lot, so I thought I'd share the answers here, especially for my friends who don't get to see me on a regular basis.

How are you feeling?
Feeling great, actually. I managed to keep up with everyone at our Disneyland trip last week (post & pics coming soon!), so I still have enough energy. I'm usually ready to go to bed by 9:30, which wasn't unusual pre-pregnancy, but the difference is now I'm really ready for bed.

When are you due?
January 25. So...right now I'm at 26/40 weeks, which is roughly the beginning of my 7th month. The month thing is actually pretty confusing to me since we commonly count a pregnancy term as 9 months, but the medical field counts it as 10.

Do you know/want to know the baby's gender?
It's a surprise! Actually, we do know, but we are keeping it a surprise for everyone else. I could go on a long rant about this if you like, but I'll refrain.

Do you have names picked out?
Not exactly. We've talked a little bit about names. I want uncommon names, Chris wants names that are versatile. We've discussed some possibilities, but are waiting until we meet the baby to name him/her. Currently, we're calling it Goober.

Do you feel the baby moving/kicking?
Yes, I do! So far, that's my favorite part about being pregnant. It really makes me realize that there's a whole other being in there, moving around independently. It's pretty fun. Goober kicks me a lot.

Are you still riding your bike?
Yes! And it feels good, so I'm going to keep doing it until I feel too uncomfortable or unsafe. I'm a little slower than I was, but otherwise, no complaints.

Do you get maternity leave?
I do - I'll be taking 12 weeks off to figure this whole new baby thing out. I'm sure I'll need it.

Are you planning to go back to work?
I was surprised to be asked this question - of course I will! I love my job, and Goober will be well-cared for by Chris most of the time. My schedule can be pretty flexible when needed, so we should be just fine.

Did I miss any?

Speak out with your Geek out - Second-Generation Gamer

2011-09-14T12:04:00.001-07:00

Speak Out with your Geek Out is this week, a campaign taking a stance against geek/nerd stereotypes and demonstrating that geeky hobbies, interests, and careers can have a positive influence on people's lives.

I thought I'd embrace my inner geek by writing about what is probably the main reason I am the geek I am. I am a second generation gamer.

Some of my earliest memories of my childhood involve my parents' gaming group arriving for their regular Dungeons & Dragons game. I can still hear their cheery greetings as they showed up with snacks, dice, books, and graph paper. I remember being allowed to sit on various laps to watch the game and roll dice "for luck", until I was trundled off to bed.

When I was 10, I was allowed to make my first D&D character. She was a wood-elf cleric named Trillina Duskin. I believe I started at 4th level, as my father was running us through the Scourge of the Slave Lords module. My first comics weren't DC or Marvel - they were SnarfQuest, Wormy, and What's New from the back of Dragon Magazine.

When I was in middle school, D&D was my primary social activity - I was involved in 7 games at one time, with a variety of Dungeon Masters ranging from family friends to kids my own age. Our family had a very tight social circle at this time, and we enjoyed spending time gaming together.

We moved to Flagstaff when I started high school, and left all those friends behind. That was a very difficult transition, and I didn't game as much for a while. My freshman year, I played for a brief time in a game after school with some seniors, but after they graduated, the D&D opportunities dried up. This situation continued until college. I was delighted to marry a fellow gamer, and we brought in several friends for various brief campaigns.

D&D continues to be my favorite game. I've tried other RPG systems, but none of them have the same appeal for me. It is a great way to keep regular contact with friends, especially in this virtual, social networked world. If it weren't for gaming, I wouldn't see many of my friends as often I do - the game encourages us to meet often to keep the story rolling. Gaming brings us together and keeps us close as the years roll along. And now we're all working on the raising the next generation of gamers. We already play D&D with our friends' children, and I, for one, am looking forward to bringing my own child into the family tradition, the third generation in my family.

Fond Librarian Fantasies

2011-09-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't mentioned it here before, but we are expecting our first child in January. It's been an interesting journey so far, to be sure.

Yesterday morning, while riding my bike to work, I was daydreaming, which is my usual bike-riding entertainment (along with avoiding being run down by daydreaming drivers). I dreamed of a conversation with my future child about discerning the difference between fact and opinion. In my dream, my little tow-headed offspring* and I talked about different examples of factual statements ("This is a cat. The cat is black.") and opinions ("I like the cat."). Then we played a little game identifying things that are factual and things that are opinion.

As I pulled up to the over-crowded bike racks and started maneuvering my bike among the poorly locked throng, my bitty librarian heart warmed - MY child will be information literate, by god!

*Obviously, Chris is blond and my hair didn't darken to brown until I was around 8. Our child is likely to be blond and doomed to wearing glasses at an early age.

Song #6 - A Happy Song

2011-09-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

I'm belatedly trying to catch up on Daphne's soundtrack project. Luckily, she's behind as well, so I'm not so far behind.

The sixth in our soundtrack series is supposed to be a happy song. I was inspired by today's Google Doodle in honor of Freddie Mercury's 65th birthday. Few bands make me as happy as Queen, and this song never fails to make me smile.

Time to be cool and relax, my friends!

Fall 2011

2011-08-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

The new semester has begun: I've returned from all my vacations and cleared out my inbox. It's time to get focused on my tasks for this semester, so I thought I'd continue my tradition from years past and collate them all here:

Another year as an Obama Scholar Mentor and Mentor Liaison to 23 mentors
Also, a Residency Classification Appeals Board Chair
Teach 2 UNI 110 class sessions
Teach 2 sections of an ENG 102 class for 2 sessions
Work on the development of ASU Digital Repository: help provide information and solicit suggestions to other ASU librarians and selected faculty, compose user documentation, work on marketing information for the general release scheduled for January 2012, etc. etc.
Plan Open Access Week activities for October
Attend the Berlin 9 Conference in November, as well as COAPI meeting
Continue finalizing plans for this year's Arizona Library Association Conference (last year as Conference Planning Co-chair - huzzah!)
Handle any licensing agreements that turn up.
I really should get that Library Minute article written...will I be able to do that this semester? This seems doubtful.
My regular committee work: TOAD, Communications, Librarians Assembly
And, new Library Minute episodes!

So, it should be a busy semester, but I'm looking forward to kicking some ass and getting stuff done! If all goes according to plan, I'll be mostly done with everything on this list after the AzLA Conference ends on November 30, leaving December free to breathe and regroup.

Something I think is interesting, after reading some of my previous year's posts, is that I am really pretty happy and comfortable with where I am and what I am doing. I turned in my application packet for continuing appointment and promotion over the summer, and it seems to me that, despite all my whining and uncertainty in past years, this is part of the whole academic professional process and why we have these 6 (though really 5) years before we do go up for promotion. I think that I'm in the place I should be at this point in my career, and I think that's pretty awesome.

NPR's Top 100 SF/F Books

2011-08-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Because I can never resist a list, here is NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy books, as determined by a readers' poll this summer. I thought I'd mark the ones I've read before. Just for fun, not because I'm competitive or anything.

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien - read
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams - read
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card - read
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert - read - actually, just Dune.
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin - read the first two books.
6. 1984, by George Orwell - read
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov - read
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman - read
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman - read
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan - avoided completely
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore - read
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov - read
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein - read
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss - read the first one, The Name of the Wind
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King - read the first book
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke - read
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury - read
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut - read
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein - read
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams - read
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey - read
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein - read
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells - read
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys - read
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells - read
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings - read
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley - started and abandoned, long ago
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven - read
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin - read
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White - read
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan - read
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons - read
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle - read
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson - read and detested the first book
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold - read
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke - read
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist - read
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks - read the first book
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard - forsooth! I've read them
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger - read
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore - read (and surprised they made the list)
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi - read
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson - read
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire - read
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde - read
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart - I may have read this in high school...
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn - read
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock - read
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley - read
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville - read
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony - read
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

So, 48/100 (giving myself credit for books in a series, but not for not completing a book).

A song that has made me cry

2011-08-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit behind on Daphne's song list, but she hasn't posted any new ones since this one. Maybe she's been waiting for me to catch up!

So, a song that has made me cry. I've thought about this one a lot, and keep coming back to "What a Wonderful World" sung by Louis Armstrong. Few songs make me choke up as regularly. The song reminds me of all the small, beautiful things in the world - the things that are easy to overlook

It also makes me think of all the things we as a race are destroying through our carelessness, ignorance, and laziness. Will our children's children see skies of blue and trees of green? It depresses me to consider that they may not. This song always makes me cry after each new environmental report or disaster.

Okay, Daphne - is the next song a happy one?

Catching up

2011-07-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post about our trips so far this summer, so I suppose better late than never!

For our anniversary this year, we stayed at Aravaipa Farms and hiked in Aravaipa Canyon. I really enjoy our tradition of exploring new places in Arizona! Chris had been to the canyon before, but that was at least 22 years ago, so it was still somewhat new to him as well.

This past week, we continued our now annual tradition of renting a cabin with all the Perrys. We stayed at Crescent Moon Ranch Cabin just outside of Sedona, and really enjoyed being so close to the creek and Cathedral Rock. Much hiking, swimming, and playing of games ensued.

In a few weeks, we'll continue our exploration of forest service cabins by staying with the Milazzos in the Hull Cabin near the Grand Canyon. I can't wait!

Song #4 - A song I can't stand to listen to

2011-07-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

This one is tough - I know there are lots of songs I dislike, but few that I absolutely can't stand, at least not with the passion that Daphne hates "What's Up." There's a song I hate so much that I have actually blocked it from my memory - at least, I can't think of what it is. I think there's a woman singing - if you can call it that.

I also find that lots of songs grow on you with repeated listening. I used to really hate "What I am" by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, but now I actually like it. Funny thing is, I like it for exactly the same reason I hated it when I was 10 - it's quirky and unexpected.

In any case, I'm going to take the easy way out and just choose the song that caused my friends and I to flee screaming out of school dances in high school: "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus.

Maybe that was a little drastic, but that was part of the fun. In any case, Weird Al, as always, nailed it.

I got a new toy!

2011-06-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

My wonderful mother-in-law helped me select and purchase a brand new sewing machine this weekend for my birthday! It's a Singer Stylist 7258, a well-reviewed model at a reasonable price.

While I already had a sewing machine, it is old and in much need of repair. Also, it doesn't do so many cool things! This baby is easy to set up and get busy sewing, and purrs like a kitten (unlike my old sewing machine, which roars like a lawnmower).

I put it through some paces yesterday working on the quilt. I thought I'd finished all my triangle blocks. Sadly, once I counted them, I realized that I need about 40 more blocks, which means I didn't cut out enough triangles!

That made me worried, so I counted out all my 9-patch blocks and matched up the pieces that still need to be put together. Yup, I'm about 20 blocks short for that as well!

Sadly, I'm out of the white corduroy, so I'll have some 9-patch blocks that'll be turquoise and purple. But hey, this is patchwork, baby! And with this new sewing machine, I'll have them put together in no time!

First Crush

2011-06-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

When I was in fourth grade, I had a crush on a boy in my class (yes, I still remember his name). He was a popular kid, blond, blue-eyed, athletic. He was way too cool for me - I don't think we ever said more than a couple of words to each other. Unlike Daphne's story, there was no flirting or mix tapes involved. But for some reason, I thought he was cute, and spent some little amount of time moping around about it. Inexplicably, this was the song I moped around listening to:

Tags:

Debbie Gibson, Music, More Music Videos

This cracks me up now - the words to the song have absolutely nothing to do with my situation. I think I may have even manufactured a crush just to mope around to this song. But in any case, I think this song is one of the earliest additions to my life's soundtrack - at least, one that I discovered on my own as opposed to my parents' influence. I had just discovered the radio that year and was quickly becoming a disciple of Casey Kasem.

On a side note, this is the first time I've watched the music video for that song. Isn't it hilarious? I love the turtleneck.

Songs of Summertime

2011-05-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Daphne's posted the next installment of meaningful songs - a song of summertime. Daphne posted about a specific summer, so I guess I'll go along with that.

The summer of 1992 was fairly important to me, musically. It was the summer after my freshman year in high school, the first summer after moving to Arizona, the last summer I didn't have a job. I turned 15 and was suffering from an acute case of teenage angst - my best friends were busy with jobs (they were older than I was), so I was bored and moody. I spent most of that summer holed up in my room either listening to music, dancing, or reading Guitar World magazines.

This is also the year when my musical tastes evolved from Top 40 pop hits to some serious rock - it was the year that Nirvana's Nevermind, Alice in Chains' Dirt, and Pearl Jam's Ten were released, among others. But I can actually remember the song that really opened up my ears to some heavier guitar sounds, a song that seduced me to rock, and the song that made me fall in love with the band that became my favorite throughout high school:

Metallica's Unforgiven.

Metallica - The Unforgiven (Official Music Video) [HD] from MetallicaHD on Vimeo.

This song was the turning point - I became a rocker and never looked back.

Song from my childhood

2011-05-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Daphne is doing a series of posts on songs that have had an impact on her life, and asked that her friends join her. I'm only too happy to oblige!

The first song is a song from childhood. Daphne's song, The Rainbow Connection, is a definite candidate for me as well. My best friend Maralee and I loved that song and sang it together often. But it wouldn't be fair to just copy Daphne's songs!

Luckily, my childhood was full of music. My parents both contributed to my early exposure - my father shared his love of rock with bands like Deep Purple, The Moody Blues and Steppenwolf; my mother introduced me to Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul, & Mary, and ABBA. We often sang together as a family in the car on road trips (of which there were many), singing church hymns, folk songs, and anything else we knew.

But in honor of Mother's Day this weekend, I'll choose a song from my mother. She took guitar classes in college, and used to play and sing to us. To me, she was beautiful playing her guitar, her long brown hair falling down past her shoulders as she watched her chord changes, and I loved listening to her sing. I have a very vivid memory of sitting on her bed as she played, and we sang this song together.

It's because of her influence that I started playing guitar myself. She taught me my first chords, and this was the first song I learned to play.

How I'm learning to stop worrying and love my body

2011-05-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

Over the past year, I've taken a different approach to my physical health. Before that, I was struggling to lose the typical 10 pounds, or would have been happy to lose 5. I tried making myself go to the gym, or take exercise classes. I tried counting calories. But I didn't stick with any of it, mostly because I didn't really want to.

Look, my diet is reasonably healthy, more so than most. I don't eat out much, I don't snack a lot, we stick pretty well to the food triangle and do a lot of cooking at home. Obviously, there are ways we could improve, but we're happy with what we eat. Most importantly, we're both healthy.

Similarly, I get plenty of moderate exercise. I ride my bike 50 minutes each day. I do push ups and stretch regularly. I take the stairs often. We go for bike rides and walks fairly often. Again, I'm in pretty decent shape.

My weight has hovered around the same 5 pound range for nearly all of my adult life, with the exception of a few years in my late 20s when I was about 15 pounds lighter. I honestly don't know how that happened, but I've accepted that that is not going to happen again. My doctor says my weight is "perfect."

Why should I struggle and make myself miserable trying to lose a few pounds? Is it because I think I should have a flat stomach? Do I think I should wear a size 6? Am I trying to compare myself to my friends, or super models? None of those are good reasons, and none of them are realistic. I am not a sexy dynamo like Jennifer, or elegant and willowy like Daphne, or a lean runner like Kerry. I will not light up a room with my smile like Trish, or dazzle people with crystal blue eyes like Shilo. Frankly, no amount of starving myself or punishing myself in the gym will change that. We are all different people, with different body types, different genetics, and different forms of beauty.

I'm accepting myself the way I am. I'm healthy. I'm happy. Chris is still attracted to me. I'm just going to keep doing what I do, enjoy life, and not waste my energy trying to be something I'm not.

A Lenten Experiment

2011-04-26T18:11:00.001-07:00

Having been raised Mormon, I actually had never heard of Lent until I went to college. I vividly remember the first time I was working at the Music Library on Ash Wednesday and saw students coming in with ashes on their forehead. It's interesting to learn more about other religions, and I'm often surprised at how different all the permutations of even one religion, such as Christianity, can be.

This year, during the first week of Lent, I asked Chris if he had observed Lent while growing up. We had a discussion about Lent and its purpose, and then he challenged me to give something up. He suggested I give up books, except for religious books. I agreed to this, providing he picked the book. He chose the Bible.

I have never read the Bible, but I am familiar with all the highlights from a good 10 years of Sunday school. I've started and stopped several times in my adult life. Chris suggested that I start with the Gospels in the New Testament, which I did, but I admit that I was playing a lot more Sudoku than usual and not really doing much reading for the first few weeks. Then, at the end of March, I picked up my iPhone and noticed that someone had left the app store open on free Bible app. So I downloaded it and picked a 90 reading plan. And I've read my alloted amount or more every day since.

30 days in, I really like reading the Bible on my phone - I like that I have a specific amount to read each day, but can choose to read more if I like. I particularly like that I can choose from a variety of translations - even though I've always been partial to the King James version, I have to admit that that was one of the reasons I never made it very far. It just makes me work too hard. I also prefer reading on my phone because I don't get distracted by the multiple column layout of my print version, and all the footnotes. I can just focus on the verse and chapter at hand.

I also didn't read comic books or magazines, but allowed the newspaper and blogs. I found that I really started craving a novel after about 2 weeks. I missed my books! But this exercise has really emphasized how much a proportion of my entertainment now comes from video games, so it really wasn't like I didn't have anything to do. There were maybe a handful of nights that I just really wanted to read something and that's what I would have preferred above all else. I know that I don't read nearly as much as I used to, and I actually want to make more of a dent in my to-read list this year than I did last year. Of course, it doesn't help that I keep adding more books.

Now that I can read anything again, I've got a book club book to read for next week (Pictures at a Revolution) and a new summer science fiction book club selection to start soon (Greg Bear's Moving Mars, which has been on my to-read list for a while), but I intend to keep to my Bible reading plan as well.

This has been an interesting experience. I'm not sure I'll give something up for Lent every year (after all, Chris didn't give anything up!), but I think I learned a few things, and I certainly think it's a valuable exercise. The timing is fortuitously soon after New Year's Resolutions, and I think most people, religious or no, could stand to review their lives and give up something that seems important for a couple of months.

ACRL Virtual Conference Recap

2011-04-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday and Friday, I had the opportunity to attend the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Conference virtually. They had a full virtual conference track with 6 programs each day. Since the sessions were all held on EST, I was doubly thankful to have the flexibility to attend from home - Friday morning I rolled out of bed at 5:45, grabbed some coffee, and logged on for a 6AM session.

In general, the sessions I attended went off without a hitch. Any technical difficulties were minor and were mostly on the side of the attendees - some people had multiple windows open, or didn't have their volume up, etc. As an aside, I wish my fellow virtual attendees would take a little ownership of troubleshooting their own problems instead of complaining via chat - but as I said, the problems were all minor and easily solved.

I'm just going to hit what I felt were the highlights of the virtual conference for me - here are my complete notes if anyone's interested.

The session on Personal Branding didn't really tell me anything I didn't know already, but I liked their emphasis on taking control of what people will find about you online - because you will be googled. They also talked about maintaining a consistent professional presence online. That resonated with me since I have a gazillion online profiles. While I do search myself every now and then, this presentation has inspired me to take an inventory, delete obsolete profiles, and gather them all in one place - this blog, naturally (stay tuned for changes!). They also spoke a little to people's privacy concerns about being online and whether to have separate personal and professional profiles (such as on Facebook). My personal view on this is that nothing on the Internet is ever truly private - if you post something online, it will be found - mostly likely by the person you didn't want to see it. My philosophy is that, if I don't want my co-workers or supervisor to see something online, maybe I should rethink putting it up there in the first place.

I really enjoyed Depending on our Users and hearing about the Research Center at the University of Denver library - it sounds like a great service to provide, and I know I wasn't alone in wanting to try it at my library.

That Friday morning program was on project management, one of my favorite topics! I particularly liked Barbara's emphasis on how important it is to have a defined scope for a project, and a deadline, to avoid "project creep." That phrase will be entering my daily lexicon, I'm sure. She also said that "every project is worthy of being well-managed" - I completely agree! She talked about a variety of tools, but focused mostly on Basecamp.

My favorite program of the conference was Listening to Users - the presenters, Meg and Lis, did a fantastic job! Not only was their topic interesting, they also modeled perfect virtual presentation technique - they were well-prepared, smoothly handled transitions between speakers, engaged the virtual audience, and weren't boring! I will definitely be following their example when planning any future presentations. Aside from that, I felt they had a lot of great suggestions for gathering feedback from our patrons - the virtual and physical suggestion boxes, responding to suggestions, using a magnetic whiteboard, eliminating librarian-speak from the library website (including database descriptions! Amen!), and using mystery shoppers to evaluate customer service. I'm definitely bringing much of their advice to our marketing team for consideration.

As an additional benefit of registering for the virtual conference, I'll also have access to all the archived slidecasts of the rest of the conference programs. I'm looking forward to watching those that peaked my interest from the #acrl2011 twitter feed!